Inside Whitney Museum Founder Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's Gilded Age Villa On Long Island

Now that's a name with some influence.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who was born into America's wealthiest family and then married into another one, was a legendary socialite, sculptor, and patron of the arts through the early half of the 20th century. Beyond her own work (which includes a number of public monuments throughout the world), her legacy lives on at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the institution she founded in 1930 after the Met rejected her offer to donate over 500 pieces from her personal collection to put on display. 

When she wasn't in Paris, her studio space in Greenwich Village, or at her family's famous summer home, The Breakers, in Newport, Gertrude could be found at her and her husband's sprawling estate in Old Westbury, Long Island. After her death in 1942, the Whitney family sold off portions of the property and demolished the mansion that once stood on the grounds. However, one structure remains - and it's just hit the market for $4.75 million.

The nearly 7,000-square-foot home was once the heiress's dedicated art studio, built in 1912 by famed Gilded Age architect William Adams Delano of Delano & Aldrich. After sitting vacant for decades, the neoclassical villa was converted into a family home by her granddaughter in the 1980s. The palatial five-bedroom space is filled with art and original details, including grand 20-foot-ceilings, a massive skylight, stunning murals, and lavish interiors. While the sculpture-adorned outer grounds have got somewhat of a Grey Gardens vibe, there's no denying that the place exudes a certain bygone glamour.

Care for a tour? Click through for a look inside!

[Photos via Douglas Elliman]